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Reviewed by: Lisa Rice, Middle School Librarian Title: The Skull
Author: Jon Klassen
Ilustrator: Lala Stellune
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Year: 2023 Good for Grades: 2-6 Genre/Type of Book: J mystery, horror, friendship
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: some scary parts for younger children
Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: I loved the mysterious cover of the girl sitting alone by a tree holding a skull. I love a spooky read and this book looked like it would be just that, plus it is written and illustrated by Jon Klassen!
If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be:
"I am just a skull and rolling around is difficult for me." -the skull, page 21
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Review:
While the reading level of this book is definitely for an elementary library, I am happy to have it in my middle school library. I think this book could appeal to adults as well! Reluctant readers will like the bigger font and a lot of white space on the pages, along with dark, shadowy drawings. Older readers will enjoy the suspenseful story. I enjoyed trying to figure out what in the world was going to happen next! I think all ages will enjoy the suspenseful story, quirky characters, and spooky vibes of this book!
The dark pictures are mostly done in shades of green and black and add to the mysteriousness of the story, right from the picture on the cover. I would have my middle schoolers look at the cover (the girl sitting by a tree holding a skull) and have them predict what the story will be about, because who really could guess?! Everything about this book makes me want to fast forward to October, turn off all the lights in the library, and in my spookiest voice, do a read aloud! It's the perfect length to read in one sitting too!
Otilla has run away from home (we never find out why) and has run into the forest where she falls and cannot get up. She finally makes her way to an old house in the woods, but it is locked. She looks into the window and sees a skull looking out at her. The skull says that he will let Otilla in only if she promises to carry him around once he does (he is only a skull and rolling around to get places is hard). Otilla agrees. No one knows about this house in the woods that has a tower and a dungeon with a bottomless pit, and also a headless skeleton that roams the halls every night. Otilla decided to spend the night (of course), and the headless skeleton appears (of course).
Besides being a fun and spooky book that can be read in one sitting, it is also a book about friendship and helping others and being brave. I would have my middle schoolers analyze what makes this book so unsettling and suspenseful? I would want to hear their thoughts on what type of book it is- a horror book? An adventure story? A book about friendship? There's also a great section in the back about how this book came to be. Yay, libraries!
My one pet peeve is we never do find out what Otilla was running away from, especially since it is more preferable to spend the night in a house in the woods with a skull. I wouldn't want to mess with Otilla!
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Reviewed by: Emily McFarlane, Elementary School Librarian Title: The Skull
Author: Jon Klassen
Ilustrator: Lala Stellune
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Year: 2023 Good for Grades: 2-5 Genre/Type of Book: Fantasy/Horror
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: Mild horror/scary situations
Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: JLG Subscription Book, spooky cover, colleague recommendation
If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be:
A haunting retelling of a Tyrolean folktale. Who is scarier: the skull or the girl?
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Review:
Otilla has run away from home and doesn't want to be found. While she is walking through the forest, she finds an old castle with a skull inside. The skull shows her many interesting things including a bottomless pit, a ballroom, and a greenhouse with a pear tree. Eventually, the skull invites her to stay. She agrees, but then the skull tells her that every night, a headless skeleton comes and tries to take it away. Otilla begins to think. In the dark of the night, the skeleton comes and chases them through the castle. Will Otilla let her new friend be taken? Or, will she defend them and her newfound home?
This story is both deep and short. It is somewhere between a chapter book and a picture book, and can be read aloud to students in 20 minutes. I could see it being a great read aloud with older kids, since it subverts your expectations about who is the really scary character in the story. The illustrations are simple but engaging, with lots of open areas on the page that lend well to the overall starkness of the story. Otilla herself is very surprising in her ability to seem unfeeling in certain situations, while also being lighthearted in others. The illustrations also contribute to the dark feeling the story has, as Klassen relies heavily on black, white, and grey with hints of red and orange at key moments. The color palette could be used in a discussion about color in storytelling, how different colors have different feelings, and what the author was trying to convey on each page through the illustrations. This book could also be used in a fairy tales/folktales unit, as it is a retelling of a Tyrolean folk tale. You could use this version and the original to compare and contrast, or have a general collection of folktales to review for tropes and similarities.
Kids might have a fun time trying to predict what is going to happen next, as the ending is a surprising twist. Each chapter is named for three things that feature in that chapter (excepting the 5th,) which would also be useful in predicting the events of the chapter. Students can discuss at the end of each chapter if their predictions were correct or not!
I think students who like horror and spooky things would gravitate toward this book, as well as your graphic novel fans. I originally picked it up on the recommendation of one of the librarians in my district, and I thought it was a graphic novel until I opened it. It has a great cover- Otilla is staring out at the reader from in front of a large tree with an almost startled expression while holding the skull. The forest around her is snowy and there is a stone wall in the background, which gives a very mysterious feeling to this book. The cover is also continuous which my students really seem to love. Overall, it is a haunting book.
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Find this book trailer and more resources for The Skull at TeachingBooks.net
For more information about this book, see the Publishers Website
Find this book in the Monroe 2 Sora Collection
Find this book in the Monroe One Sora Collection